Question: In S&S Nerd, Sal develops a very powerful laser rifle. Of course, the military shows a strong interest, but why hasn't Sal fitted out Chuck 1 & 2 with laser rifles?

You are joking of course.
1) When they tested first tested the prototype one shot took out an earth berm and the concrete backing which was capable of taking a tank round. Range seems to be line of sight - use it in a Marshals business and it would destroy the target and anything behind it for a couple of miles.

2) It's very hush hush, top secret etc. and to be kept under lock and key at all times

Strictly a sniper's weapon to be used in a carefully chosen location - not putting down some nasty individual who has just crossed from Mexico with all of Mexico behind him to be destroyed.

It could be used for all of those things. Just the collateral damage is going to be huge. The laser wasn't stopped when the target was hit. It kept going no maximum range was given, if I remember right.

However Wes planes are beginning to be utilized in Chuck 2's business operations.

The charter services are being used in the LA Fun story as well. Crews were unnamed for those flights however.

sejintenej
Strictly a sniper's weapon
Based on what you describe (it's been a while since I read that) it's less a sniper weapon than an anti-materiel or even anti-armor weapon.

As I understand it, when they got it tuned the beam width at 1000m was in the centimetre range, perhaps less. Of course it could be widened (as it was originally) but it was still a near surgical weapon (like when it sliced the wing off a plane in flight). Anti-armour, possibly but I don't know how long an individual "shot" could last to slice the turret off a fully armoured tank.

As I understand it, when they got it tuned the beam width at 1000m was in the centimetre range, perhaps less. Of course it could be widened (as it was originally) but it was still a near surgical weapon (like when it sliced the wing off a plane in flight). Anti-armour, possibly but I don't know how long an individual "shot" could last to slice the turret off a fully armoured tank.

Edited:

Why bother slicing the turret off even if you can?

A tank typically has a crew of 4; commander, driver, gunner, loader. There isn't a lot of spare room in a tank, so each crew member is in a more or less fixed position relative to the tank.

With a weapon like what is described, here are several possible tactics for taking out a tank:

1. 4 shots, one for each crew member will take the tank out of action.

Hit the driver first, the rest of the crew doesn't have good line of sight on the driver, then the gunner. The order for the last two doesn't matter as much.

2. One shot to the breach of the main gun, and the tank will blow, immediately if there is a round in the breach, they next time they fire if not.

3. One shot to the ammo magazine. Boom!

4. One shot to the fuel tank. Can you say burnt marshmallow? I knew you could.

That is probably the reason its not being used by either Chuck. The 50 can be labeled a sniper rifle, although the explosive ammo makes it a marginal public relations liability if the media learns of the capability.

The 50 can be labeled a sniper rifle, although the explosive ammo makes it a marginal public relations liability if the media learns of the capability.

What weapon are you referring to? The only 50 sniper rifle I can think of is the .50 caliber Barret sniper rifle. The .50 Barret uses .50 BMG ammo. It is no more explosive than any other rifle bullet.

There are rifle and pistol bullets referred to as "exploding" bullets. These bullets do not contain any kind of true explosive. They are designed to fragment on impact with each fragment going in a slightly different direction.

Most .50 BMG ammo however, is full metal jacket armor piercing ammo, the precise opposite of an "exploding" bullet.

A so-called "combined effects" cartridge, the Mk 211 Mod 0 High-Explosive-Incendiary-Armor-Piercing (HEIAP) cartridge contains a .30 caliber tungsten penetrator, zirconium powder, and Composition A explosive. It can be used in any .50 caliber weapon in US inventory with the exception of the M85 machine gun. Cartridge is identified by a green tip with a grey ring.

This cartridge is used against hardened targets such as bunkers, for suppressive fire against lightly armored vehicles, and ground and aerial threat suppression. It is generally fired either from pilot-aimed aircraft-mounted guns or anti-aircraft platforms both produced by FN Herstal.[15] It is identified by a gray over yellow tip.[16] A tracer variant of it also exists.

end quote

These are very effective explosive round capable of being fired from most weapons that fires the .50 BMG - often fired from one of the many Barret rifles as an anti-vehicle round.

.30 caliber tungsten penetrator, zirconium powder, and Composition A explosive. It can be used in any .50 caliber weapon in US inventory with the exception of the M85 machine gun. Cartridge is identified by a green tip with a grey ring.

Can't be very much explosive in it. A basic .50 BMG copper jacketed lead slug is only 42-50 grams. Given that the explosive is going to be significantly less dense than lead, there can't be more than a few grams of explosive in the round.

I should add that the details given about the round is the minimum needed for his stories. But as has been shown here, more information is available if a reader wants to look it up. Just enough detail to work in the story without being too technical.

The multipurpose name is based on the projectile having an armor-piercing (tungsten core), an explosive, and an incendiary component, thus making it capable of penetrating lightly armored targets and causing damage to personnel inside the target after penetration. It is a suitable round for engaging helicopters, aircraft and lightly armored vehicles, as well as unarmored vehicles, and it is capable of igniting jet fuel. The Mk 211 has about the same destructive power as a standard 20mm round against such targets.

...............

The wiki article has a drawing, but doesn't mention weights, although it does mention the explosive is RDX, one of the more powerful ones.

Just the tungsten core will do a lot of damage due to the molten metal flying around after penetration. Add in some explosive in an enclosed space like the passenger or engine compartment in a vehicle and one gets a lot of damage. Add in the flammable/explosive liquids available from the other damage, and there can be a lot of lot of damage.

I might be going against the experts. But as a reader I like the way he keeps the tech to the minimum required for the story. Almost all the tech with the exceptions of Wes's planes (as an example). Can easily be researched for more details, just using the search engines. I know I will do that at times for things that sound interesting.

I might be going against the experts. But as a reader I like the way he keeps the tech to the minimum required for the story. Almost all the tech with the exceptions of Wes's planes (as an example). Can easily be researched for more details, just using the search engines. I know I will do that at times for things that sound interesting.

My favorite of all the Florida Friends stories is S&S Nerd. I love the Sci-fi/future tech aspects of the story. DW has Sal & crew inventing things that don't exist yet, but are not too far outside the realm of possibility. I really hope there is at least one more story featuring Sal & crew in R&D and their inventions.

My favorite of all the Florida Friends stories is S&S Nerd. I love the Sci-fi/future tech aspects of the story. DW has Sal & crew inventing things that don't exist yet

I loved the way all the research and development tied together in so many ways. Even the windmill generators and other ideas mentioned at different points. Just from watching some of the scientific and history type channels, I have seen examples of alternate energy sources among others.

edited to add: Not that they are not invented already, just the idea of looking at them from a different perspective. That can fire up the imagination in many ways, while being very entertaining.

I should add that the details given about the round is the minimum needed for his stories. But as has been shown here, more information is available if a reader wants to look it up. Just enough detail to work in the story without being too technical.

Yes; when, in training, he first uses the 0.50 he tries an explosive round on a car and very seriously damages it.
In any case there are all sorts of ideas in use which modern technology has yet to catch up with like the friction-free aircraft material which results in Mach 2 aircraft which do not suffer from skin heating. aircraft flying at over mach 1 but not leaving the normal sounds on the terrain crossed, the ultra deadly laser in a rifle form.

Another writer tells of a couple of young girls (teenagers) making a railgun which is so effective it is seized by the state.
Authors are allowed to go beyond the present

some teen genuises come up with a simple railgun and sell it to the US government because they have some new ideas they copyrighted, and get involved with a gov't project on railgun design. And goes on from there.

some teen genuises come up with a simple railgun and sell it to the US government because they have some new ideas they copyrighted, and get involved with a gov't project on railgun design. And goes on from there.

Actually it starts well before the 'Community' stories, but the Super-genius teens from the individual stories Cindy, Nikki, and Tina, (and a couple of others I believe) come together and form the 'Community', and get Masters and Doctorates before they turn 18. 'Community' starts where they first come together and 'Community Too' actually was (if I remember correctly) Oyster50's effort to break the continuing story into a separate 'book' for easier reading.

Bot-Bot made me think of K-9 (Doctor Who) at first, but I think Bot-Bot will end up much better. He(?) already has more personality IMHO.

As for the wives being repetitive, I tend to agree. When one does something, it's not long before the others do too, right down to getting pregnant. Everything seems to go their way. What would happen if something happened to one of the pregnancies? Miscarriage? Premature delivery? Other complications? Not that I would want to hurt any of them, but it seems like the conflicts have all but disappeared. I am still waiting to see what happens with Tina's mother.

Anyway, I love all of the girls and will read about them for as long as Oyster keeps writing about them, which I hope is a long time.

Not that I would want to hurt any of them, but it seems like the conflicts have all but disappeared. I am still waiting to see what happens with Tina's mother.

As to the first the plane she was flying has just had engine failure shortly after takeoff. Readers can imagine the gory details for themselves (or read the latest chapter!)

Tina's mum. To answer that would give the ignorant the answer to the above problem

As for BotBot I think he has gone as far as he can; he has a successor being designed / constructed / instructed

Another conflict waiting in the green room is when Congress learns about Auburn handing out advanced degrees willy-nilly to allegedly glamourous under dressed nubile under aged girls. (OK so Oyster50 does not make those adjectives; publicity-seeking politicians will so describe them)

When one does something, it's not long before the others do too, right down to getting pregnant

Also, they do things the same way time after time. Long ago I got to the point of skipping huge section because the sex scenes were repetitive and often gratuitous in regards to the story itself. I like the story and basic line, but too often i see a new chapter and think the sex scenes have been cut and pasted in, then a little changed just to push the word count because almost nothing actually happens in any of the plot lines.